Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday.

Separately, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Astec Industries from $36.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th.

Astec Industries Trading Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ:ASTE opened at $32.60 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $743.35 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -407.45 and a beta of 1.31. Astec Industries has a 1-year low of $28.46 and a 1-year high of $44.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 2.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.31. Astec Industries had a negative net margin of 0.15% and a positive return on equity of 7.69%. The company had revenue of $291.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $312.90 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.01) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.9% on a year-over-year basis.

Astec Industries Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 13th were issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, November 13th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. Astec Industries’s dividend payout ratio is -650.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASTE. Centiva Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Astec Industries in the third quarter worth $353,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Astec Industries by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 569,089 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $18,180,000 after purchasing an additional 22,743 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,538,684 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $45,637,000 after purchasing an additional 29,421 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Astec Industries by 72.3% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 73,229 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,172,000 after buying an additional 30,717 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Astec Industries by 118.9% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 40,529 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,294,000 after buying an additional 22,017 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.16% of the company’s stock.

Astec Industries Company Profile

Astec Industries, Inc designs, engineers, manufactures, and markets equipment and components used primarily in road building and related construction activities worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Infrastructure Solutions and Materials Solutions. The Infrastructure Solutions segment offers asphalt plants and related components, heaters, concrete dust control systems, asphalt pavers, vaporizers, concrete material handling systems, screeds, heat recovery units, paste back-fill plants, asphalt storage tanks, hot oil heaters, bagging plants, fuel storage tanks, industrial and asphalt burners and systems, custom batch plants, material transfer vehicles, soil stabilizing-reclaiming machinery, blower trucks and trailers, milling machines, soil remediation plants, wood chippers and grinders, pump trailers, concrete batch plants, control systems, liquid terminals, storage equipment and related parts, construction and retrofits, polymer plants, and concrete mixers, as well as engineering and environmental permitting services.